The Sociology of VIDEO-Gaming: A Gamer's Perspective

Video gaming in the contemporary times is a deeply misinterpreted concept. Social scientists around the world have been concentrating on very specific issues: particularly against gaming. Gaming is responsible for violence as much as any other activity (crime shows on television, domestic violence at home or anything else.) The kind of competition youth is facing today, a life full of acute stress ( getting a job, settling.) Gaming gives a personal sense of achievement, a hope that everyday real life failures can be dealt with positivism.

This study gives a detailed statistical analysis of how video games improve hand-eye co-ordination. An account of emergence of video-gaming as a main-stream commercial sector, a whole new market providing free-lance job opportunities to the youth and connecting them world-wide is also a highlight of this study.

 Addiction to anything is harmful. Gaming has its own share of disadvantages like laziness, poor eyesight, insomnia, inactivity.

Online multiplayer gaming (like Call of Duty) is extremely violent and reveals explicit content. Gamers use abusive language. A child of very young age getting exposed to this kind of a virtual world is dangerous to mental growth and it might have psychological effects on very small kids.

From an isolated leisure activity, in this techno-freak world gaming is now a major main-stream pastime. LAN parties with thousands of gamers sitting in a room playing World of Warcraft for two days straight or a million dollar gaming competition has made video-gaming the most popular pastime amongst the youth today. People make a living just by being gamers. It is making the concept of indoor games and outdoor games REDUNDANT. Social interaction on some level is decreasing day by day.

Thus gaming has its own share of pros and cons and this study gives an account from a gamers' angle.